Supreme Court ends lawsuit over election fee

Friday

Oct 30, 2009 at 12:01 AMOct 30, 2009 at 11:00 AM

The Ohio Supreme Court used technical grounds yesterday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by former GOP fundraiser and political consultant Kyle Sisk against state Sen. Timothy J. Grendell claiming breach of contract.

The Ohio Supreme Court used technical grounds yesterday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by former GOP fundraiser and political consultant Kyle Sisk against state Sen. Timothy J. Grendell claiming breach of contract.

Sisk claimed that Grendell, R-Chesterland, owed him $62,000, including a $50,000 "win bonus" for the March 2004 Senate primary victory. Grendell, a state representative before his Senate win, argued that he paid all $24,000 he owed to Sisk.

The court ruled unanimously in Grendell's favor, citing Ohio's "double-dismissal rule," in which a plaintiff is allowed to dismiss his civil complaint with the ability to file it again later.

In this case, the court noted, Sisk dismissed his 2004 lawsuit in October 2005. Later that month, Sisk refiled the complaint but then waited more than a year before requesting that the court serve the complaint on Grendell.

Grendell argued that the case should be dismissed because he was not served within a year. Both the trial court and appellate court agreed to dismiss the case, but each gave Sisk the opportunity to file it again.

"The bottom line in this case is that Sisk has utterly failed to comply with the service requirement in (civil rules)," Justice Paul E. Pfeifer wrote for the majority. "To allow Sisk to proceed with its case, after twice failing to perfect service within a year, would be a perversion of justice."